HPV can cause many types of cancer, but many people don’t realize it

A majority of Americans are unaware that HPV, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, can cause a number of major cancers, according to a new study. The researchers were surprised by one finding in particular: a drop in awareness that HPV, the human papillomavirus, is linked to cervical cancer.

Almost all sexually active women and men become HPV infected at some point, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to CDC estimates, currently more than 42 million Americans carry at least one strain of HPV. About 13 million people are infected each year.

In the new study, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research on Tuesday, researchers analyzed nationally representative survey data collected by the National Health Information Trends Survey which monitored the knowledge of American adults about the link between the virus and cancer. There were approximately 2,000 to 2,300 annual respondents to the survey, including for 2014 and annually between 2017 and 2020.

They found that about two-thirds of respondents had constantly heard of HPV. Of this group in 2020, 70.2% were aware of the link between the virus and cervical cancer, a significant drop of 7.4% from 77.6% in 2014.

“It was very shocking to us,” study lead author Eric Adjei Boakye, a science assistant at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, said of the fall.

Only about 30% of people who knew HPV also knew it could cause throat or anal cancers.

Not all types of HPV are dangerous. Most infections have no symptoms and go away on their own within a few years. But in some cases, the infection persists and can lead to cancer.

Approximately 47,000 people are diagnosed with HPV-related malignancies each year, including cancers of the cervix, anus, vulva, oropharynx (back of the throat), vagina and penis, according the CDC. Cervical cancer is the most common, with 13,800 cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed each year in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Precancerous cervical cells are diagnosed much more often.

The new findings come amid a wave of skepticism towards vaccines and one drop in childhood vaccinations in the US There has long been resistance to the HPV vaccine, which was first approved in 2006 for girls and young women to prevent cervical cancer. It has since been updated to prevent anal, mouth, and head and neck cancers in both men and women.

Much of the hesitation about the HPV vaccine has to do with fears about safety and the belief of a ‘substantial fraction of parents’ that the vaccine is not necessary, according to a recent study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases find.

Some parents have refused to have their children vaccinated against HPV, fearing it would encourage sexual risk-taking. A study 2018however, found no association between state HPV vaccination laws and adolescent school attendance and sexual behaviors.

“One of the reasons why the vaccination rate is low is because people don’t know that it actually prevents cancer,” Adjei Boakye said. “So there’s been a lot of talk about trying to raise people’s level of awareness.”

HPV vaccine can prevent cancer

Preteen and early teen boys and girls have been the target group to receive the HPV vaccine, although it was recently licensed for people up to age 45.

“If we had near-full vaccination rates, we could essentially eliminate these cancers, which would be spectacular,” said Dr. William L. Dahut, scientific director of the American Cancer Society.

The current version of the vaccine prevents nine strains of HPV known to cause cancer.

Adjei Boakye and his co-authors believe that the decline in awareness of HPV and cervical cancer may have been driven by efforts to educate physicians on recommending the HPV vaccine, rather than education campaigns public.

He also speculated that online misinformation may be partly responsible. Despite continuing security concerns, a study who reviewed Gardasil, the leading HPV vaccine, nine years after it was approved, found no serious associated health outcomes after 178 million doses were administered worldwide.

“It may be one of the safest vaccines we’ve ever had,” Dahut said.

Research suggests that the HPV vaccine has already had a dramatic impact on public health. In the mid-2000s, 11.5% of teenage girls carried at least one of the four strains of HPV. This figure dropped to 1.8% a decade later, According to the CDC.

A recent study found a 65% drop incidence of cervical cancer from 2012 to 2019 in women in their early twenties, the first cohort to receive the HPV vaccine.

Various states have laws requiring HPV vaccination for adolescent school attendance, including legislators in Hawaii, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. California recently proposed requiring all students entering eighth grade to receive the vaccine.

Too late for the HPV vaccine?

People who are already sexually active can still benefit from the vaccine, research suggests. Even if they have already contracted one or more of the cancer-linked strains, the vaccine may still prevent these people from contracting other strains, and could therefore still mitigate their overall cancer risk.

During routine gynecological exams, doctors can look for cancerous or precancerous cells on the cervix with a Pap test. Untreated, precancerous cells can progress to cancer.

Adjei Boakye pointed out that HPV vaccination is especially vital for the prevention of cancers of the mouth, penis and anus, as there is no standard screening recommended for early detection when diseases are easier. treat.

“It’s still really shocking that people still think they don’t need it,” he said of the vaccine. “It’s a human thing, they think they’ll never get cancer.”